In Perth, Western Australia, because of the generally sandy soil, one of the most common methods for disposing of stormwater is to employ soakwells. A typical soakwell consists of a cylindrical section that is installed in a vertical orientation in the soil. It may have a plurality of apertures provided in the side wall, and it is open at the bottom so that when water collects in the soakwell it can soak into the surrounding soil underneath. Downpipes connected to drains from roof guttering are plumbed into the side wall of the soakwell so that stormwater run-off is safely directed and disposed of away from building foundations. Soakwells may also directly collect rainwater run-off from car park areas.
One of the problems with soak wells is their limited capacity. This means that the larger the impervious surface area that a building or development has requiring drainage of stormwater run-off, the more soakwells have to be installed. However installing soakwells is labour-intensive and expensive, as each soakwell first requires excavation of the soil at numerous locations over the site and then craning of the concrete cylinder into the excavated hole at many locations.
The present invention was developed with a view to providing a liquid run-off disposal system that is fully scalable, and simple, compact and easy to install compared to soakwells.
References to prior art in this specification are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not to be taken as an admission that such prior art is part of the common general knowledge in Australia or elsewhere.